By REYNALD MAGALLON
Akari-Philippines U18 team overcame a tough stand from India with a 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 25-22 victory to open the classification round of the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship on Thursday, June 20 at the Ratchaburi Gymnasium in Thailand.
The Filipinas showed great poise in the fourth set as Denesse Daylisan along with a string of errors from Indians broke a 21-all deadlock and sealed the four-set victory – the Philippines’ first win in the tournament after losing its first two games during the group phase.
Daylisan came through with her best game, powering through with 20 attacks to finish with 22 points. Jaila Adrao and Akeyla Bartolabac provided support with 14 and 12 points respectively.
The Akari U18 girls came out strong in the contest but still had to grind it out to take the opening set. The Indian came back roaring in the second set but the Filipinas responded with a rout to reclaim the series lead.
The Filipinas actually trailed 17-15 in the fourth frame but managed to tie the game 22-all setting up the table to a thrilling finish.
With the win, the Filipinas erased the bitter taste of its straight-set losses against powerhouses Iran and Japan in the group stage. They can still move up further in the final ranking if it wins its last game against on Saturday, June 22.
